Richard Wentworth

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Richard Wentworth (born Samoa 1947) is an affluent British Artist, curator and teacher currently based at the Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art in Oxford.

Wentworth studied at Hornsey College of Art in North London from 1965 and then at the Royal College of Art where he was a contemporary of Bill Woodrow and Tony Cragg. As a student Wentworth worked for Henry Moore and at the gallery owned by Robert Fraser and claims that Yoko Ono took his bicycle for a piece of work and has never reimbursed him.

Wentworth became identified with the New British Sculpture movement of the late 1970s that moved away from heavy construction. Wentworth’s interest is the juxtaposition of materials and found elements that do not belong together. In the work Shower (pictured) Wentworth attached a small propeller to an ordinary table creating the impression that the furniture is about to take flight. Light Bulbs were a reoccurring element for their symbolism of the ‘eureka moment’ of conceptual breakthrough. For an installation at the Lisson Gallery he created a flock of books suspended by wire from the gallery’s ceiling. Wentworth is also interested in the bizarre coincidences of urban life that he documents in photographs.

Between 1971 and 1987 Wentworth taught at Goldsmiths College and his influence can be seen in the work of the Young British Artists. He curated the exhibition Thinking Aloud innit at Kettle's Yard that explored the creative process as well as the profligate nature of mass production and consumerism.

In 1996 his Marking the Parish Boundaries along the River Tees in County Durham was the first public art project to be funded by the National Lottery.

Wentworth has lived for many years in the Kings Cross area of London and in 2002 he realised the project An Area of Outstanding Unnatural Beauty in which for three months he took over a plumbing supply shop in the area converting it into a base for visitors to explore and engage with the area.